In electrical systems, flexible printed circuits and flat conductor tape cables are often employed as electrical jumper cables for interconnecting the terminals of printed circuit (PC) boards comprising the various subsystems. A connector mounted to one or both ends of the cable is formed with a set of electrical contacts which are designed to engage corresponding terminals of a printed circuit board. Some connectors, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,205, require individual soldered connections between the contacts of the connector and the cable conductors or between the connector contacts and the terminals of the PC board. Since there may be a large number of conductive paths involved, the connection of the connector to the cable or to the PC board can be a tedious and time-consuming process. Furthermore, there is a great potential for misconnection of the various printed circuit paths to the connector due to solder bridging of adjacent circuit paths or due to a dead solder connection. Also, if connections are to be made in the field, this requires a technician to carry a soldering gun which can be inconvenient. Moreover, such solder connections are permanent for all practical purposes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,531,793 and 4,583,800 are illustrative of connectors which avoid the need to solder when connecting a flexible printed circuit to a printed circuit board. In these arrangements, the connector is basically a spring-like clamp which clamps the printed circuit paths of the flexible circuit or flat conductor tape cable to congruent circuit paths of the PC board. While this type of connector is releasable, the connection is possible only when the circuit path terminations of both circuits being connected are planar or flat, i.e. are pads. Such connectors cannot be used to establish contacts with a PC board whose terminals are in the form of thru-holes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,867, there is shown a printed circuit connection system wherein the flexible printed circuit or flat conductor tape cable is terminated by a connector which defines a set of post-receiving passages or sockets. The connector is clamped to the end of the circuit so that the conductor runs are aligned with the connector passages, each conductor forming one wall of the corresponding passage. The connector is arranged to be coupled to a PC board with the connector passages receiving terminal posts or pins projecting from the PC board. The connector includes a comb-like spring member which biases the conductive cable runs against the terminal pins projecting into the connector passages so that the various conductor runs are in intimate electrical and mechanical contact with the posts of the PC board.
That prior connection system thus requires that the various conductive paths or runs of the PC board be terminated by upstanding pins or posts capable of being plugged into the connector passages. The connector disclosed in that patent is not capable of being connected to the widely used type of PC board whose conductive runs terminate in a staggered pattern designed to separate thru-holes to provide space for inner layer conductor feed through and to prevent solder bridging. That conventional connection system is disadvantaged also in that the connector is retained to the PC board solely by the frictional engagement of the cable runs and the terminal pins of the PC board. Resultantly, when a system incorporating such connections is operating in a high vibration environment, vibratory forces can result in the connector and PC board pins becoming disconnected.